At the Bye with Coach Neu
Jack Bedell
Tuesday April 12, 2005
After ten games, the VooDoo rank second in total offense and fifth in total defense. Quarterback Andy Kelly is having a career year, in a storied career, leading or near the top in every statistical passing category. Offensive specialist Aaron Bailey and WR/LB Thabiti Davis are both posting wonderful numbers, near the league leader in combined touchdowns. OL/DL B. J. Cohen is fourth in the league in sacks, and the rest of the defense ranks in the top half of the league in almost every defensive category, including lowest scoring percentage against, takeaway/giveaway number, and third down defense. Certainly, these don’t sound like the accomplishments of a team that’s caught in the logjam this year’s playoff race has become recently. And most certainly, these are not the characteristics of a team that should be looking to regain confidence. But that’s just where the VooDoo find themselves going into week 11.
After a busy Monday morning that began with the release of defensive specialist and team catalyst Monty Montgomery and ended with an encouraging, energetic practice in preparation for this weekend’s game against the 1-9 Columbus Destroyers, I caught up with Coach Mike Neu to discuss the team’s attitude and direction as they enter the home stretch of their season.
Jack Bedell: Did the tough loss in Austin provide a wake-up call for the stretch run this season, or is this team professional enough to know losses like that happen in this league?
Mike Neu: "No, I think the guys in the locker know that when you have a 14 point lead early in the second half you’ve got to finish guys off, and that was the sense. The guys were certainly angry about it in the locker room, and I think that’s part of the reason why the players called a players-only meeting today to say "Hey guys, when the opportunity’s there to smell blood and to finish guys off, we have to take advantage of it." Certainly, none of the guys think that it’s just part of the game. They know that there was a point in time in that game when we could’ve finished it off."
JB: Does anything need to change in the chemistry of this team for it to take care of business down the stretch? Is Monty's release part of that process?
MN: "More than anything with Monty it was an accumulation of things, repeated incidents that happened throughout the year. It’s not any one thing. Then again, none of these were anything that Monty did other than being late for work, or not performing or living up to the rules I’ve set for the football team. He’s a great person; he handled himself with class this morning. During the bye week, I asked these guys to get as far away from football as they could and to recommit themselves because we have six tough weeks left to the regular season and then the playoffs. They’ve got to come back here with a refreshed attitude. We have to pull together, and we have to eliminate the distractions and play good football."
JB: So morale’s good?
MN: "It was very good this morning, very good last night. We had a great team meeting here last night and a very spirited practice this morning."
JB: Do you assess what's gone right and why to this point in the season, and make adjustments for the last six games to play to these strengths?
MN: "I think, absolutely, you go back and you look at the first part of your season and what the things were that you were doing during your winning streak, our five game winning streak, and what were the things showing up when you started your losing streak, when you’ve lost three out of four like we have. As a coach, I try to instill confidence in these guys again. I harp on the good things, because there’s nothing you can do to erase the past. It’s about me building up their attitude again, their confidence, so that we can go out and play good football. I know that we’re capable of doing that with everybody bringing their A-game week in and week out."
JB: Will Coach Porter's philosophy in terms of the secondary change now that personnel have changed?
MN: "The decision we make coming out of training camp is to keep guys because they fit what Coach Porter likes to do. Coach Porter will do a great job with those guys. We have all the confidence in the world in Alvin Porter, Chris Pointer, Denario Smalls, and Calvin Spears. Those guys will step in and do a great job. We just have to keep the same group on the field and strive for consistency."
JB: As you see it, what's it going to take to make the playoffs this year?
MN: "We’ve got to start playing consistent football every week. There were times when we lost games where we were good in the first half on offense but we were bad in the second half; or games where we were good in the second half on defense but bad in the first half. We have to play solid for four quarters, play consistent, and bring our A-game. That’s the biggest thing that I harp on. Every play matters, and, of course, the team can’t ever think that you can take a play off and it won’t matter, because it will, and we found that out. We’ve lost three games this year by a combined six points. We found out that every play matters, and when you come out of the huddle, whether it’s on offense or defense, you have to make the most of the opportunity."
Jack Bedell was an inaugural season ticket holder for the af2's Lafayette Roughnecks and the AFL's New Orleans VooDoo. He's been a fan of the league since he first saw Browning Nagle heaving touchdowns for the Buffalo Destroyers. Jack's married to a lovely wife, Beth, and has two sons, Jack and Samuel Eli. He works as an associate professor of creative writing at Southeastern Louisiana University.
